Method of making axminster-type carpet



July 19, 1960 H. A. REINHARDT METHOD OF MAKING AXMINSTER-TYPE CARPET Original Filed Oct. 28, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1960 H. A. REINHARDT 2,945,511

METHOD OF MAKING AXMINSTER-TYPE CARPET Original Filed 001;. '28, 1957 i v 3 Sheets-Sheet z July 19, 1960 H. A. REINHARDT 2,945,511

METHOD OF MAKING AXMINSTER-TYPE CARPET Original Filed 001;. 28, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 METHon on MAKING AXMINSTER-TYPE CARPET Henry A. Reinhardt, Bryn Mawr, Pa., assignor to Bigelow- Sanford Carpet Company, Inc., Thompsonville, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Original application Oct. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 692,814. Di-

g'glgig4ililld this application Sept. 16, 1959, Ser. No.

3 Claims. (Cl. 139-7) The present invention relates to the manufacture of pile fabric floor coverings and more particularly to the manufacture of improved pile fabric floor coverings on an Axminster-type loom.

This application is a divisional application filed as a result of a requirement for restriction under 35 U.S.C. 121 in my copending parent application Serial No. 692,- 814 filed October 28, 1957, Patent No. 2,940,479, June 14, 1960, in which parent application the fabric resulting from the method of the present application is claimed.

The traditional Axminster carpet employs a pile tuft cut from a pile yarn which is looped about a holding weft shot to form a generally V-shaped tuft' having two legs which extend upwardly from the backing, at each side of the holding weft shot. The tuft legs at the base of the tuft are engaged between adjacent weft shots, as the fabricris beaten-up in the weaving operation, so that the portion of the pile yarn looped about the holding weft is tightly compressed. As the tufts extend upwardly from the backing fabric they open up, or blossom out, that is, the individual fibers composing the tuft spread apart, becoming more widely separated at progressively greater distances above the backing fabric. Thus each tuft leg assumes a triangular or upwardlyflaring shape, as seen in cross-section taken warpwise of the fabric. The breadth in the warpwise direction of a whole tuft comprising two legs would, in the absence of restraint by the tufts of adjoining rows, be greater than the distance between adjoining tuft rows. The result is that one leg of a tuft in one row leans against the adjacent leg of the tuft in the adjoining row. As

seen in warpwise cross-section, the adjacent tufts of twoadjoining rows assume the shape of a W, wherein the lower points of the W constitute the bases of the tufts, the legs of'each tuft being spread apart and the top of the leg of one tuft being pressed against the top of the leg of the adjacent tuft more closely than it is pressed against its companion leg of the same tuft. This effect is illustrated, for example, by the fabric shown in Fig. 1 of the Phoenix Patent No. 1,849,550. This effect results in an uneven or non-uniform distribution of pile fiber at the pile face of the -fabric, as, at the pile face, the adja-.

cent legs of 'two adjoining rows are more tightly pressed together, with resultant intermingling of fibers, than are the two legs of any single row.,

Since both legs of a given'tuft must be of the same color and texture, and thus the pattern canbe determined only by changes of color of an entire tuft, such intermingling of adjacent tuft leg fibers tends, where the adjacent tufts are of difierent pattern colors, to obscure the pattern outline, detracting from definiteness of pattern delineation.

An object of the invention is to provide a method for weaving an Axminster loom a wovenpile fabric floor covering which has amore even and uniform distribution of pile fiberin the: exposed pilesurface than 'hashereto-- Patented July 19, 1960 fore been possible of attainment in Axminster manufacture.

Another object is to provide an Axminster-type weaving method which provides a sharper pattern delineation for a given pitch than has heretofore been attainable in Axminster carpets. I

A further object of the invention is to provide an Axminster-type weaving method which affords a large saving in pile material for a given degree of coverage of the fabric backing.

Another object is to provide an Axminster-type weaving method which provides a fabric which is more luxurious than heretofore known in Axminster-type fabric, in that it has a greater pile height. a

The invention will be more fully understood from the accompanying drawings, wherein plane fabric;

Fig. 3 is a warpwise cross-section of such a singleweft-plane fabric;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, somewhat schematic, of a loom on which the method of my invention may be practiced;

Figs. 5-9 inclusive are schematic transverse sections of the loom at the weaving point illustrating respectively successive steps of the method of the invention; and

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic warpwise sectional view of a fabric similar to that of Fig. 1 showing a modification.

In accordance with the invention I provide a method for the manufacture of an Axminster type woven pile fabric wherein the pile tuft instead of being V-shaped and looped about a holding weft shot as in the traditional- Axminster, consists of a single leg only, the leg extending above the upper face of the backing and being securely bound in the backing by being passed between adjacent pairs of weft shots and turned at its lower end The wefts in my preferred fabric, as in conventional Axminster fabric, are inserted in pairs by a needle and I employ the term weft shot herein to designate wefts which function in the fabric construction as a single weft unit, including such pairs 7 of simultaneously inserted wefts.

In order that the disclosure and description hereinafter of my method of manufacture may be clearly understood I will first briefly describe an Axminster-type loom on which the method is practiced. Referring to Fig. 4 of the drawing, the loom frame comprises a pair of side frame members 2 joined by cross-girths (not shown).

The main shaft 4 extending between the side frames 2 carries a series of cams which operate the various loom mechanisms in properly timed relationship. The binder warp 6 and the two stuifer warps 8 are supplied from beams (not shown) from which they pass forwardly of the loom as shown to the Weaving point or fell 40 of the carpet. From the fell the woven carpet passes forwardly across the breast beam 10 to a suitable take-up roll (not shown). Suitable heddles (not shown) are provided to shed the various warps.

The pile yarns are supplied from a series of tube frames 14 carried on an overhead carrier chain 12. Each tube frame 14 has a row of small metal tubes 16 projecting therefrom, from each of which tubes one of the pile yarns '18 protrudes. Each tube frame is taken in turn from the carrier 12 by a pair of clutch arms 20 and lowered to the weaving point. At the weaving point the tube frame is rocked counterclockwise about a horizontal axis by means of the rod 22, bell. crank 24, rod

Z6, cam follower 28 and a cam 30on main shaft 4;"

rocking produces the so-called "wiping-in" action in which the tips of the tubes 16 are entered between threads of the binder warp and then moved downwardly and forwardly to carry the pile yarn ends 18 below the binder and stutfer warps, whereupon the tubeframe and tubes are lifted, at the end of the wiping-in action, to clear the tubesfrom the warps, leaving a short length of pile yarn extending downwardly from the tube and between the threads of the binderwarp and of the stuffer warps. This lifting action of the tube frame is effected by the cam segment 32 of earn disc 34 carried by the main shaft 4.

The lay 36 which carries the reed 38 is operated by a cam on the main shaft 4 to swing to and from the fell 40 of the fabric to beat-up the wefts.

The wefts are inserted by a needle 42 adapted to be passed transversely through the shed between the reed in its backward position and the fell, laying two wefts at the same time so that the wefts of the completed fabric are disposed in pairs.

A comb 44 is mounted for a conventional put-out and put-up movement by which, in the case of the conventional Axminster method of weaving, it engages the pile yarn ends 18 depending below the warps, to turn them upwardly about the last-inserted holding weft shot to from the second pile tuft leg. While the comb 44 is dwelling in its up position and engaging the fell 40 of' the carpet, the tube frame 14 is given an upward movement by the draw-off cam segment 50 on the cam disc 34 to draw additional pile yarn from the spools on the frame to provide the protruding ends 18 for the next row of tufts to be formed by that tube frame.

Thereafter, the pile yarn is severed at the desired height above the fabric backing by knives 46, 48. Finally, the

tube frame is raised by the clutch arms 20 and re-attached to the carrier chain 12, which then advances to bringvthe next tube frame 14 into position to be engaged by the clutch arms as the cycle is repeated to form the next row of tufts.

Turning now to Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, the details of the method of the invention will be described as em ployed in weaving the fabric of Fig. 1. In Fig. the tube frame 14 has been lowered from the carrier chain 12 and the tubes 16 with the protruding yarn ends 18 have been inserted between the warp threads at the beginning of the wiping-in action. The reed 38 at this time is in its rearward position. Previous to this stage the pair of upper wefts 60 had been inserted and beatup and, thereafter, the pair of binding wefts 62 had been inserted and beat-up. As appears in Fig. 5, the upper weft pair 60 is disposed forwardly of the weft pair 62, that is, to the right in Fig. 5.

As the wiping-in action continues, the tubes 16 rotate counter-clockwise (by rod 22 and can 30, Fig. 4) and then are lifted (cam 32, Fig. 4) into the position in which they appear in Fig. 6 with the pile yarn ends 18' extending between and slightly below the warps and lying against the weft pair 62. As the tuft is to have only one leg, the yarn end 18 need extend downwardly only sufficiently to provide the length of yarn which is to be bound into the backing to hold the tuft in place, incontrast to the usual Axminster procedure in which the yarn must extend enough lower, than in my method, to provide a second leg for the same tuft. That is, in my method the pile yarn at the end of the wipe-in extends less than a pile tuft length below the holding wefts, whereas, in the conventional Axminster procedure the pile yarn at this time extends more than a tuft length below the holding weft The proper height or vertical position of the tube frame 14 at the end of wiping-in action to provide sufficient pile yarn to be bound into the fabric, but not sufficient to provide a second leg on. the tuft, isaccomplished by appropriate adjustment of the.

camsegment 32, havingregard to the,other adjustments 4 of the loom, as will be readily understood by those skilled in theart.

At this point, as appears in Fig. 6, a pair of holding wefts 64 are inserted in the shed by the needle and then beat-up by a forward movement of the reed 38 into the position shown in Fig. 7. As the weft pair 64 is beaten into the fell it moves into a position above the pair of binding wefts 62, causing the lower end of the pile yarn to be bent as shown in Fig. 7 and disposed between the pair of'holdingwefts 64.and the pair of binding wefts 62. The pile yarn above is driven forwardly into engagement with the pair of upper wefts 60. The reed then moves backwardly into its dotted line position of Fig. 7.

In normal Axminster manufacture when the reed 38 is returned to its dotted position of Fig. 7 the comb 44 would be put out and put up to engage the extending portion of the pile yarn and turn it upwardly about the holding weft 64 to form the second pile tuft leg. This action of the comb is not required in the present method as there is no second pile tuft leg, and the comb may be disabled or may be removed from the loom. However, the comb may be retained and there is no objection to allowing the comb to move in its normal manner. As appears in Fig. 8, the comb 44 has been put out and put up and lies against the fell 40 of the cloth. Necessarily, any extent of pile yarn rearwardly of the holding wefts 64 will be turned upwardly by the comb to extend toward the upper surface of the backing or slightly thereabove.

The tube frame 14. now receives its upward, draw-off movement, moving into the position shown in Fig. 8 to leave extending from the tubes 16 a length of yarn sufficient to provide the first tuft leg 66 of the tuft which has just been formed, and, in addition, to provide an end 18 to protrude from the tube for use in forming the next tuft to be formed by that tube. The comb as it lies againstthe fell of the cloth during this draw-off motion of'the tube frame is useful in tending to prevent slippage of the pile yarn between the wefts 64 and 62 during draw oflt'.

Thev pile yarnis then cut, Fig. 9, by the cutters 46, 48, leaving the newly formed tuft with a single pile leg 66 of the desired height and'leaving the yarn end 18 protruding from thetube 16..

Thereafter another pair of upper wefts 60 is inserted and the cycle repeated.

In its draw-off movement the tube 16 need not be raised as far above the line of action of blades 46, 48 as it must be raised in the conventional Axminster manufacture, as the amount of yarn which must be left pro truding as an. end' 18 is only that required to form a single-legged tuft, as contrasted with a two-legged tuft. This departure from the conventional Axminster method is taken, care'of by appropriate adjustment of the cam segment 50, having regard to the other adjustments of the m including the adjustment of the cam 32, as will bereadily understood by those skilled in the art.

From time to time the binder warp 6 and the stulfer warps 8 are shedded by the heddles in the conventional manner, as' will be well understood.

Although only a single tuft 66 has been referred to in. the foregoing description, it will be understood that each tube frame \14 carries a row of tubes 16, perpendicular to the paper of the drawing and. that accordingly a weftwise row of tufts like tuft 66 is formed simultaneously therewith.

The result ofmy method of weaving is the fabric illustrated' in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Referring to Fig. l, the fabric comprises (1) the backing structure made up of wefts, binder warp threads and two planes or warps of stutfer warp threads, indicated generally at 68, and (2) the pile face composed of pile tufts indicated generally at 70. Each, pile tuft consists of a single leg 66 extending uprightly above the upper wefts 60 and having its lower end '72 turned'approximately at a right angle to lie between and be tightly engaged by the-holding weft pair 64 and.

' for purposes of illustration in Fig. 1.

the binding weft pair 62 therebelow. The upper wefts 60, in pairs, are bound down against the upper stuflfer warp 74 by the binder warp threads 76 which pass above the wefts 60. When the upper wefts 60 have been inserted, the shed is changed to bring the binder warp threads 76 down so that'the next pair of wefts, which is the pair of binding wefts 62, is placed above the binder warp threads 76. The stulfer warps likewise are appropriately shedded so that the binding wefts 62 are below both planes of stuifer warps and the holding wefts 64 are between the planes of stulfer warps. When wefts 60, 62 and 64 have been placed the shed is again changed so that the next pair of upper wefts 60 is disposed above the upper plane of stuffer warps and below the binder war-p threads 76.

In this fabric every pile tuft leg is structurally the same as every other pile tuft leg, and is related to its neighboring tufts in the same Way as every other tuft leg is related to its corresponding neighboring tufts. The result is that the pile fibers are uniformly and evenly distributed at the pile surface of the fabric. The pattern delineation .at the border line between tufts of different colors is sharper and more distinct than in the conventional Axminster, as tuft legs of differentcolors are never pressed together more strongly, with intermingling of fibers, than are tuft legs of the same color, as occurs in conventional Axminster. I a

A further advantage is that the pile height may be considerably higher than is possible with the ordinary Axminster method and product, other factors remaining the same. In .the ordinary Axminster construction the height of the pile is limited by the length of pile yarn 18 which may be allowed to protrude from the tubes 16 inasmuch as the second tuft leg must be formed from this length of yarn. If this protruding end-18 is too long, it is impossible to Wipe-in the tubes and yarns, as the yarns hang up on the warps. minster weaving, the yarn ends 18 can not exceed a predetermined maximum length. With my method, this maximum length of yarn 18 need not include the yarn for the second tuft leg, as this leg is omitted. In contrast, in the conventional Axminster method this length 18 must be long enough to provide at least the yarn for both the length which is bound in and one of the tuft legs. The length of the other tuft leg, the only leg employed in accordance with my invention, is not limited by the length of the portion 18, as its length is determined only by the draw-off movement of the tube frame.

By the employment of pile of increased height, the warpwise spacing between rows may be increased while obtaining the same degree of coverage of the backing with consequent saving of expensive pile yarn. Also, with increased pile height, the fabric may be designed with many outs or missing tufts without impairing the coverage of the backing. Such reduction in the number of tufts per square inch which my invention makes possible provides further possibility of savings in the expensive pile yarn.

My invention is not limited to the construction shown The invention may be applied to any kind of Axminster construction. It also may be applied in the form of 2-shot or l-shot fabrics.

Referring to Fig. 2, a 2-shot fabric is illustrated wherein the wefts are arranged in two planes, one above and one below the stuffer warp 78. The pairs of upper or holding wefts 84, 86 are bound down against the stutfer warp and the pairs of lower or binding wefts 88, 90 are bound up against the stuifer warp by the pairs of binder warp threads 80, 82 which pass alternately above weft pairs in the upper plane and below weft pairs in the lower plane. The wiping-in action occurs following the insertion of a binding weft pair 88, 90 whereupon a holding weft pair 84, 86 is inserted and when beaten-up bends the pile yarns to cause the lower ends to be turned at an inclination to lie. between and be engaged by a binding weft pair 88, 90 and a holding weft pair 84, 86, leaving the greater part of the tuft 66 extending upwardly between adjacent pairs of holding wefts 84, 86 to proset of binder warps 98 passes under said alternate weft For this reason, in Axshots and over said intermediate weft shots. The pile I yarns are wiped-in as described above and wiping-in is followed by the insertion of a pair of wefts which are beaten-up to engage the pile yarn between that pair and the preceding weft pair so that the tuft has a single leg 66 extended upwardly between adjacent pairs of wefts. Since there is a single plane only of wefts, the

lower ends 102 of the pile yarns are not turned by means of the insertion of a weft pair. When the fabric has been woven, it is back-coated with an adhesive composition 100, as by coating with a doctor blade, so that the lower ends ofthe pile yarns which extend between the weft pairs are turned to lie against the back of the backing and are securely united thereto by the adhesive. Each tuft comprises a single leg 66 extending uprightly between adjacent weft pairs and having its lower end turned at an inclination to lie beneath one of said adjacent weft pairs. As in the other described fabrics, the pile fiber at the exposed pile face is uniformly distributed.

Other variations of the fabric, e.g., those of Figs. 1 and 2, may be back-coated with an adhesive, if desired, or as required to give the degree of tuft bind desired, as is well understood in the art.

It will be appreciated that the lower ends of the pile tufts 66 need not be so short as to terminate immediately after they have passed across the bottom of the holding Weft pair but may be somewhat longer and may be turned upwardly around the holding weft pair as is the traditional Axminster tuft, to extend toward the upper surface of the backing or to extend between the wefts of the upper plane or to extend above the upper surface of the backing, as is illustrated by the tuft 66' of Fig. 10. Such constructions, while they consume more pile yarn than the presently preferred construction illustrated in the drawing, nevertheless provide the substantial benefits of the invention.

Other and further embodiments of the invention and modifications of the particular fabric constructions which have been described in detail to illustrate the application of my invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and the following claims are intended to embrace all such modifications and embodiments.

I claim:

1. The method of weaving a pile fabric floor covering of the Axminster type having a backing including binder warp threads and a series of pile tuft holding weft shots in the same weft plane, which comprises, in each weaving cycle, forming a shed ,of warp threads including binder warp threads, wiping-in a weftwise'row of pile yarns between binder warp threads at the fell of the fabric with each pile yarn at the end of the wipe-in extending less than a pile tuft length below the holding weft shot inserted in the preceding weaving cycle, inserting a holding weft shot through the'shed, beating-up said last-inserted holding weft shot against said pile yarns while said yarns are so extending, and cutting the pile yarns above said holding weft shots to provide from each pile yarn only a single pile tuft leg secured in said backing.

2. The method of weaving a pile fabric floor covering of the Axminster type having a backing including a binder warp and a series of pile tuft holding weft shots in the same weft plane, which comprises, in each weaving cycle,

forming a shed of warp threads includingbinder warp threads and stuffer warp threads, inserting a binding weft shot in the shed below stuffer warp threads and above binder warp threads, beating-up said binding weft shot, wiping-in a weftwise row of pile yarns between binder warp threads and between stutfer warp threads at the fell of the fabric, with each pile yarn at the end of the wipe-in extending less than a pile tuft length below the holding weft shot inserted in the preceding weaving cycle, forming a second shed of binder warp threads and stutfer warp threads, inserting in the second shed a holding weft shot above stutter warp threads and below binder warp threads, beating-up said last-inserted holding weft shot against said pile yarns, while said pile yarns are so extending, to position said pile yarns against said binding weft shot with lower portions of said pile yarns disposed and bound between said binding weft shot and said last-inserted holding weft shot, and cutting said pile yarns above said holding weft shots to provide from each pile yarn only a single pile tuft leg secured in said backing.

3. The method of weaving a pile fabric floor covering of the Axrninster type having a backing including binder warp threads and a series of pile-tuft holding Weft shots in the same weft plane, which comprises, in each weaving cycle, forming a shed of warp threads including a warp of binder warp threads and two warps of stulfer warp threads, inserting an upper weft shot in the shed above both stuffer" warps and below the binder warp, beating-up said upper weft shot, forming a second shed of said binder warp and said stulfer warps, inserting a binding weft shot in said second shed below both stufier warps and above the binder warp, beating-up said binding weft shot, wiping in a weftwise row of pile yarns between binder warp threads and between stuifer warp threads at the fell of the fabric, with each pile yarn at the end of the wipe-in extending less than a pile tuft length below the holding weft shot inserted in the preceding weaving cycle, forming a third shed of said binder warp and said stutfer warps, inserting in said third shed a holding weft shot between the two stutfer warps and above said binder warp, beating-up said last-inserted holding weft shot against said pile yarns, while said pile yarns are so extending, to position said pile yarns against said upper weft shot with the lower portions of said pile yarns disposed and bound between said binding weft shot and said last-inserted holding weft shot, and cutting said pile yarns above said upper weft shot to provide from each pile yarn only a single pile tuft leg secured in said backing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,745,442 Herrnstadt May 15, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2,945,511 July 19, 1960 Henry A. Reinhardt pears in the above It is hereby certified that error ap v that the said Letters numbered patent requiring correction and Patent should read as corrected below.,-

and in the heading to the name of assignee for each occurrence, read In the grant, lines 2 and 12, printed specification lines 4 and 5 "Bigelow -sanford CarpetCompany IncJ', Bigelow-Sanford, Inc.

Signed and sealed this 20th day of December 1960.,

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE Att 5' dff- ROBERT c. WATSON es lng leer Commissioner of Patents 

